Wednesday, October 5, 2016

Save the Hills Alliance, Annual Meeting - Oct. 29, 2016

Fifth Annual Meeting Event Announcement - Sat., October 29, 2016
1:00 p.m. to 3:30 p.m. - Veteran's Center - Menomonie, WI
Save The Hills Alliance, Inc. - FLYER ATTACHED

This year's program will concentrate on the social impacts of frac sand mining and quality of life, as well as the role that citizens play in public policy as it relates to regulatory oversight and protection of their communities.

Speakers - THOMAS W. PEARSON, Associate Professor of Anthropology in the Social Science Department at the University of Wisconsin-Stout in Menomonie, WI, and KIMBERLEE WRIGHT, Attorney and Executive Director of Midwest Environmental Advocates in Madison, WI.

Speaker, Thomas W. Pearson, received his PhD from the State University of New York at Binghamton and has conducted extensive research in Central America on environmental activism. He has been researching the social dimensions of frac sand mining in the area for the past four years, particularly grassroots activism and community-level conflicts. He is currently working on a book, tentatively titled, When the Hills Are Gone: Frac Sand Mining and the Struggle for Place, Community, and Democracy, which will be published in 2017 by the University of Minnesota Press.

Speaker, Kimberlee Wright, received her law degree and a BS in rural sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and she has worked statewide in the public interest on issues ranging from elder law, environmental protection, conservation, and support for people affected by family violence. She has served as the director of conservation programs for The Nature Conservancy and executive director for Domestic Abuse Intervention Services, and she has managed a statewide grant program for land trusts working in partnership with the DNR to protect critical habitat and natural areas. 

Our speakers will be introduced by Dave Carlson. Dave is known from his long running  TV series, "Northland Adventures" and  "Northland Outdoors." Dave has received many awards for his conservation journalism. He will also moderate a period of questions and answers.

We will also present a short preview of Jim Tittle's upcoming documentary, "Promise in the Sand," which will take a look at what really happened after the frac sand boom hit Minnesota and Wisconsin as depicted in his 2013 documentary, "The Price of Sand."